Sugar and Spice
by Mitsuye-san
Summary: ...and everything nice. There's so many ways this could go wrong, but there are also ways it can go right...right? Collection of oneshots/drabbles/unfinished stories/chapters mostly centered around Kai/Shin Shin/Kai friendship/romance, but other characters may show up as well. Ratings generally K-T. Genres vary. Ch 1: Royal Joker
1. Chapter 1

Heels clicked sharply against the tiled floor, murmurs arose and brought the room to life with whispering waves, and he watched from above the bright lights floating smoothly across the expanse of open air at the boy seated on his mother's lap.

The light shone on him and his parents - special people, his father had whispered to him when he tugged the edge of his coat - and he wondered how lonely it must be, being the only ones in the brilliant light while everyone else was shrouded from their view in a dark, soft light. A place where they couldn't reach, couldn't pass into. Instinctively, he wanted to talk, to learn of this special boy and his special family, and - perhaps, maybe - become a special person as well.

His father chuckled when he had told him, patting his head affectionately while he looked at him in the eyes, saying with all the confidence and love and truth in the world.

"You _are_ special."

He didn't understand what his father meant - at least, completely and fully, as his father seemed to when he spoke those words with bright eyes and a proud smile - but he grinned, because he was special, was told so by his father (and his father was a great man, a _special_ man, too).

So, when he turned back to look at the small boy and his family who were shining so radiantly in this place where there was only the dim lights and imperceptible people, he jumped onto the rail, his upper-body hanging precariously over the edge, and shouted (because, his child logic had reasoned, the small boy had small ears, so he'd have to speak up for him to hear) his enthusiastic greeting.

"Hi, Shorty!"

("He was feeling lonely without any other special kids to talk to," Kaito would later explain, quick and indignant, "so of course I had to do something about it!")

It was as though the very forces of the world had stopped in shock. The veiled guests below froze mid-step and stared, unblinking, into their partner's baffled eyes. Kuroba Kaito, son of Kuroba Toichi and his beloved wife Chikage, grinned, sunny and dazzling and oblivious to what he'd just done.

"Kaito," he heard his father call behind him, not at all flustered by his sudden burst of energy; his poker face was the best of the best, after all, "come down from there. You're disturbing the other guests."

He nodded, but hung on the rail for a moment longer, watching as the boy's mother spoke rapidly to him, a playful smile on her lips as she gestured to and fro, giggling behind her slim fingers. The boy's ears had, strangely, turned a strange color - pinkish-red, of all things - and Kaito wondered what kind of magic he had to learn to do _that_ because that would be an amazing prank to play on Aoko when he saw her again.

Shoulders starting to ache, he let his feet return to the platform and stole a glance at the boy before he returned back to his father.

The boy was looking at him (straight at him, Kaito thought, amazed, through the dark blanket covering him and into his eyes) and he said something - mouthed it, but somehow, he still heard it even as the whispering waves rolled below him, as the heels clicked and slid across the tiled floor once more, as the wind resumed whistling its tune.

"_Hello._"


	2. Chapter 2

"Sir, they're the same."

Looking over his shoulder, the king glanced at the last two contestants his advisor was analyzing. Two small children sat next to each other, one bubbling with contained excitement and curiosity while the other coolly observed his aging advisor with a critical, suspicious eye.

Vainly trying to remove himself from the child's gaze, his advisor turned and handed him the evaluation for the two boys, looking helpless. Scanning it briefly, his eyes widened and he asked, "Have these been double-checked?"

His advisor nodded. "Triple-checked, sir."

Searching through the documents once more, he found a discrepancy in the information. "Only one of them is blue-eyed."

With shaky fingers, his advisor pushed up his small round frames, nodding once more. "Yes, sir, I'm aware, but indigo-eyed children also qualify."

"Can we not test them?" he asked, eyebrows pulling together. "If they qualify for the physical examinations, we must make sure they are willing to learn or have a gift of wisdom."

"Tests have been done, sir - multiple. They've both scored within the same range of each other - very, very high, sir, in the prodigal range - and if one does worse than the other in one, the next one will have the other doing worse."

"Quite the dilemma, isn't it?" he sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly. He was getting old - _already _old, admittedly - and old men needed their rest. "How about this?"

He walked up to boys sitting obediently on the lush couch and crouched down until he was at eye level. Smiling, he asked, with a bright, bearded grin, "How would you two like to rule a kingdom?"

The blue-eyed boy shrugged, "Sur-"

"_Awesome!" _The indigo-eyed child shot up to his feet, his arms shooting towards the sky.

"Great," the king exclaimed, clapping his hands together satisfactorily. He stood, patting them both on the head, and swiveled around to proclaim to his undoubtedly weary advisor. "See? Wasn't that easy? Come on, boys, lets show you two around the castle."

The king chuckled to himself (he was proud that he could relieve some stress off his old companion) and led his heirs to the library after the blue-eyed one asked to see his documents.

The advisor watched as the doors closed, with flourish, behind the king, stunned and shell-shocked and hopelessly devastated.

Why did he sign up for this again?


End file.
